So i ve been using this mod in my last nexrellin game, so far using the easier settings.
Also using the mechanical replacement skins because REASONS.

So far I can say this is a worthy addition to the game if you enjoy endgame challenges.
In my game I think Hiver has actually been a little bit weak (which is because i enabled the easier mode),
actually losing 1-2 planets to the Imperium and the Persian League.
But in the endgame they were still the strongest faction with 8 heavy industries :O
I think its cool that you cannot recover their ships and their equipment is rare,
tho i have found some of their missiles really useful (the one that shoots at 5k range with unlimited ammo im actually using on my flagship)
and their fighters seem to be on a similar power level as remnant (non flash) fighters.
The fights can be interesting, regenerating hull sounds like cheating to me, but thats the whole point of this faction I guess

Tho I found they have a really hard time dealing with burst damage from phase ships,
I have killed an entire fleet of theirs just by using 1 Herbinger (from PMM) Phase Cruiser with Phase Coil

But that is also true for many vanilla factions.
They have definitely shown the Hegemony and such whats what on several occasions, actually conquering some core worlds (tho most of them got decivilized eventually).
I will definitely try this mod again with harder settings to see what that is about.
Death Death Death Death Death Lunch Death Death Death.